““For me, D&D is a game about real life human interactions set in a fantasy world.””
Matt Rauscher
Springfield, IL
“The secret we should never let the game masters know is that they don't need any rules.”
Matt first learned about tabletop RPGs from his older brother who would game with his friends down the street from where they lived. Not long after, when he was 7 or 8, he put his first crayon to a set of dice and joined in.
Like most tabletop gamers Matt got his start playing 1st edition Dungeons & Dragons. He’s not sure why but he was immediately drawn to the assassin class and yes, of course he was evil. Thus, Zorrod the human assassin was born.
Soon he was exploring the galaxy as Zamferre, a Dralasite, in Star Frontiers. John Archer, code named Formula 409, fought the Russians, as well as greasy filthy messes, during the Cold War in Top Secret. His alter egos shot up Wong’s Laundry in Boot Hill, spent several hours planning the perfect covert run only to kick in the door after 5 minutes in Shadow Run, and consistently had their ammo critically hit in BattleTech.
Matt explored many more universes but always returned to Dungeons & Dragons as his main RPG fix. By the late 1980s, with only one exception, he was DMing exclusively, first using the Greyhawk setting but eventually creating his own worlds to torture his players with. Matt’s mission as a DM has always been to make every important decision made by the players meaningful and challenging. This has led a to number of arguments where Matt was accused of being evil, well Lawful Evil specifically.
Today, Matt still enjoys running his weekly game but after journaling hundreds of sessions his goal is to keep those memories alive by sharing their triumphs, disasters, and hilariously humiliating moments on the Pickled Dragon as well as in print.
Matt is a beacon of wisdom and creativity. We had the opportunity to chat with him on Episode 6 of the #CoalitionCast where we discussed world building, community involvement, unique situations while DM'ing, dealing with different types of players, long-standing campaigns, and much more!
Check out The Pickled Dragon’s interview on The Coalition Cast!